URBAN
INSTITUTE
February 2014
Characteristics of Families Receiving
Multiple Public Benefits
Sara Edelstein, Michael R. Pergamit, and Caroline Ratcliffe
INTRODUCTION
A variety of government benefits exist to support low-income families. Many of these benefits provide
resources that can reduce immediate hardship. For example, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) benefits (formerly called food stamps) are designed to reduce food insecurity, public housing and
subsidized rent provide shelter, and Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
provide coverage for health care to those in low-income families.
These and other benefits provide a social safety net that is intended to help families who do not have
sufficient income to meet their basic needs. In their absence, families that are not employed or are
experiencing periods of under-employment or low-wage employment may face hardships with immediate
and/or long-term impacts on parents and their children. By providing support for basic needs, public
benefits can help families cope with hardship and stabilize them during a time of crisis. This stability can,
in turn, put families in a better position to engage in activities that improve their employment and
economic circumstances.
The various safety net programs differ in many ways, including funding sources, eligibility
requirements, application and recertification process, and benefit type. These distinctions can make
obtaining benefits confusing and complicated. As a result, many low-income families likely do not receive
all the benefits to which they are entitled (Waters-Boots 2010; Zedlewski et al. 2006).
Little is known about the extent to which low-income households receive multiple benefits and in
what combinations. Some past studies have examined receipt of pairs of benefits (Acs and Loprest 2005;
Rosenbaum and Dean 2011). They find that participants in certain benefit programs are likely to receive a
second benefit. For example, among Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, 98
percent receive Medicaid, 81 percent receive SNAP, and 14 percent receive housing assistance (Zedlewski
2012). Among individuals in households receiving SNAP, 81 percent live in households that also receive
Medicaid or CHIP (Gothro and Trippe 2010).
Receiving a combination of more than two benefits is substantially more common among TANF
recipients than SNAP recipients. Cancian, Han, and Noyes (2011) find that over 50 percent of TANF
recipients participate in four or five programs, while over 80 percent of the SNAP population receives only
one or two benefits.
Considering all low-income families, rather than specific benefit program populations, yields lower
estimates of multiple benefit receipt. Nichols and Zedlewski (2011) find that only five percent of lowincome families with a low level of work receive TANF, unemployment insurance, and SNAP.1 A previous
study similarly found that five percent of low-income families received a package of four benefits:
public health insurance, SNAP, child care subsidies, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (Zedlewski,
Adams, Dubay, and Kenney 2006). Among poor, single-parent families, the prevalence is higher, with 15
percent of these families receiving all four benefits. These low rates of multiple benefit receipt may be, in
part, a result of the programs considered. For instance, child care subsidies are difficult to access, so lowincome families are unlikely to receive all four benefits studied.
This brief builds on what is currently known by answering three research questions:
•
•
•
What types of benefits do low-income families with children receive?
How many benefits do low-income families with children receive?
What are the characteristics of families receiving different benefit packages?
In answering these questions, we provide a more complete understanding of what benefits low-income
families with children receive, how these families combine benefits, and what distinguishes families that
receive different benefit packages.
We find that multiple benefit receipt is common among low-income families with children, with
56 percent of families receiving two or more benefits. However, when we look beyond the receipt of food
assistance and public health insurance, a minority of families receive other benefits—fewer than 20
percent receive shelter assistance (housing or energy), cash assistance (TANF or Supplemental Security
Income [SSI]), or work supports (child care or transportation assistance). Families that receive one to
three benefits generally access food assistance and public health insurance, with limited use of other
public benefits. Only when families receive four or more benefits do they branch out to other benefits
(e.g., shelter, cash, work supports) in significant numbers. Families that receive the most benefits are the
most disadvantaged and tend to have lower incomes, lower attachment to the labor force, and lower
educational attainment. They experience greater economic hardship than families that receive fewer
benefits.
DATA, SAMPLE, AND ANALYSIS
This analysis uses the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which
follows individuals in the civilian population over a 48-month period between October 2003 and
December 2007. This precedes the Great Recession and thus does not consider the spike in the number of
low-income families that resulted from the economic contraction. SIPP respondents, a nationally
representative sample of the noninstitutionalized population, answer questions every four months about
the previous four-month period, providing information on demographic and family characteristics,
income, employment and wages, job characteristics, and receipt of government benefits. 2, 3
Our sample consists of low-income, working-aged families with children. Each family has income
below 200 percent of the federal poverty level,4 at least one child under age 18, and the family head or
spouse between 18 and 55 years old. Each month that a low-income family with children appears in the
SIPP, the family is included in the analysis sample as a separate observation. In all, the analysis sample
includes 192,507 observations, representing 10,759 unique families.5
Our analysis examines nine benefits that are designed to help families meet their basic needs and
maintain employment:6
1. Public health insurance (Medicaid, CHIP, and/or other state children’s health insurance
program);7
2. SNAP benefits;
3. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits;
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
2
4. Free or reduced price school meals, through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and
School Breakfast Program; (SBP)
5. TANF benefits;
6. SSI benefits;
7. Housing assistance (public housing, Section 8 housing, or subsidized rent);
8. Energy assistance via the low income home energy assistance program (LIHEAP); and
9. Work supports (transportation assistance and/or child care subsidies).
By considering these nine benefits, which fulfill different types of needs, including health care, food,
shelter, income support, child care, and transportation, we develop a detailed picture of how families
combine benefits.
Our analysis begins by describing the types of benefits received by low-income families, recognizing
that both program eligibility rules and family decision-making factors influence benefit receipt. Next, we
examine the number of benefits received and how that relates to type of benefits received. Finally, we
conduct a cluster analysis of benefit receipt, which assigns families to clusters (or groups) such that
families in each cluster are similar to one another with regards to chosen attributes (Tan, Steinbach, and
Kumar 2005). In this case, the attributes are the families’ receipt of the nine benefits. Once the clusters are
defined, we describe what benefit combinations and demographic characteristics go together.
WHAT TYPES OF BENEFITS DO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES RECEIVE?
Food assistance and public health insurance are the benefits most often accessed by low-income families
with children (figure 1). Two-thirds (67 percent) of families receive a food-related benefit, with 36 percent,
25 percent, and 6 percent receiving one, two, and three food benefits, respectively. Among these food
related programs, the most common is free or reduced price school meals (52 percent), followed by SNAP
(29 percent) and WIC (22 percent). A majority of families also receive public health insurance—60
percent. The high level of school meal and public health insurance receipt results from broad program
eligibility. Children in families with income up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level can access
reduced price school meals, and income limits for state health insurance coverage for children are usually
at or above 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Food and health benefit receipt by families is also
dependent on children’s ages. For example, only families with a pregnant mother or a child under five
years old are eligible to receive WIC and, among children eligible to receive reduced price school meals,
younger children are more likely than older children to be signed up for the program (Dahl and Scholz
2011). Further, many states set a higher income eligibility limit (i.e., more lenient) for public health
insurance coverage for younger children than for older children.
Benefits that are not food or health related are much less commonly received. Seventeen percent of
families receive assistance with shelter costs, in most cases housing assistance (13 percent), but
sometimes energy assistance (6 percent). Even fewer families receive support in the form of cash
benefits—7 percent receive TANF and 8 percent receive SSI. Likewise, 7 percent receive a work support
benefit.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
3
Figure 1. Benefits Received by Low-income Families with Children, by Type
70%
Percent of families receiving benefit
60%
50%
67%
3 food
benefits
60%
2 food
benefits
40%
SNAP
30%
WIC
Public
health
insurance
20%
10%
17%
School
meals
Energy
both
13%
both
TANF
Housing
7%
SSI
0%
Food
Health
Shelter
Cash
Work supports
Type of benefit
Source: Authors' tabulations of the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Sample includes lowincome, working-aged families with children.
Notes: See Data, Sample, and Analysis section for descripton of benefit groups. All results are calculated using the SIPP
family weight.
HOW MANY BENEFITS DO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES RECEIVE?
Benefit receipt and multiple benefit receipt are common among low-income families with children. Over
three-quarters (78 percent) of families receive at least one benefit, with a minority (22 percent) receiving
no benefits (figure 2). The numbers of families that receive one, two, and three benefits are somewhat
similar: 21 percent receive one benefit, 20 percent receive two benefits, and 16 percent receive three
benefits. Another 20 percent of low-income families receive four or more benefits.
Higher levels of benefit receipt are more common among poor families with children (incomes below
100 percent of the federal poverty level), as compared with non-poor, low-income families with children
(incomes between 100-200 percent of the federal poverty level). Over half (52 percent) of poor families
receive three or more benefits, as compared with a quarter (24 percent) of non-poor, low-income families
with children. Examining even higher levels of benefit receipt, we find that a third of poor families receive
four or more benefits, while 10 percent of non-poor, low-income families do so.
At the other end of the spectrum, roughly half (53 percent) of non-poor low-income families receive
zero or only one benefit compared with about a third of poor families. Nearly half of poor families receive
two or fewer benefits, despite having income that makes them eligible for most of the programs
considered here. Some poor and low-income families may have incurred only temporary income drops, so
may choose not to apply for benefits or focus on only a single benefit program.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
4
Figure 2. Number of Benefits Received by Low-income Families with Children
6%
3%
22%
11%
16%
21%
20%
Poor
Non-Poor, Low-Income
3% 1%
6%
6%
16%
10%
14%
15%
17%
22%
17%
27%
26%
18%
None
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six or more
Source: Authors’ tabulations of the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Sample includes low-income, workingaged families with children.
Notes: Poor families have incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty level; non-poor, low-income families have incomes between
100–200 percent of the federal poverty level. The nine program benefits include SNAP, WIC, free or reduced price school meals, public
health insurance, TANF, SSI, work supports, housing assistance, and energy assistance. All results are calculated using the SIPP family weight.
Food assistance and public health insurance are the most prevalent benefits received either alone or
in combination. If a family receives only one benefit, it is one of these two types in 97 percent of families,
with only three percent receiving one of the other five benefits (table 1, row 1). Among families that
receive two benefits, over 90 percent receive food assistance and over 80 percent public health insurance,
while five percent receive housing assistance and fewer families receive energy assistance, TANF, SSI, or
work support benefits (table 1, row 2). These “other” benefits (non-food and non-health insurance) are
also received by a small minority of families (less than 15 percent) that receive three benefits.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
5
Table 1. Type of Benefits Received by Number of Benefits Received (Percent)
Number of
benefits
Food
Health Housing Energy
SSI
TANF
One
Two
Three
Four or more
60
92
98
99.9
37
83
95
99
2
5
14
48
0.3
2
5
22
0.3
4
13
26
0.03
0.3
3
30
Work
supports
1
3
7
24
Source: Authors’ tabulations of the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Sample includes low-income,
working-aged families with children.
Notes: Number of benefits is out of nine possible benefits: the three “food” benefits (SNAP, WIC, and free or reduced price
school meals) plus the others listed in the columns. All results are calculated using the SIPP family weight.
Only when we focus on families that receive four or more benefits do we see substantial fractions of
families receiving benefits other than food assistance or public health insurance. Among families that
receive four or more benefits, 90 percent receive a benefit other than food assistance or public health
insurance (not shown). Nearly half (48 percent) receive housing assistance, and between 22 percent and
30 percent of families receive each of the other four benefits: energy assistance, TANF, SSI, and work
supports (table 1, row 4). The lower level of receipt of these “other” benefits is a consequence of their more
stringent eligibility requirements and/or more limited funding.
Although food assistance and public health insurance dominate, other program benefits are
important for the well-being of low-income families with children. To better understand how families who
receive these less prominent benefits access different services, we examine benefit receipt by key program.
For example, how do families who receive TANF combine that assistance with other types of government
benefits?
TANF-recipient families have the highest level of benefit receipt, with families receiving an average of
five benefits in a month (table 2, row 1).8 Beyond food assistance and public health insurance, which
nearly all TANF families receive, 41 percent of these families receive housing assistance and 24 percent
receive SSI, followed by work supports and energy assistance. The median income eligibility limit for
TANF, which is set by states, was 49 percent of the federal poverty level in 2011 (Kassabian, Whitesell,
and Huber 2012), so TANF recipients have very low incomes, making them likely to rely on many benefits.
Like TANF families, the vast majority of families receiving housing assistance also access food
assistance (93 percent) and public health insurance (89 percent; table 2, row 3). In addition, between 15
percent and 21 percent of housing assistance families receive the other four benefits—energy assistance,
TANF, SSI, and work supports.9 On average, these families receive 4.3 benefits in a month.
Beyond food assistance and public health insurance, families receiving energy assistance, work
supports, and/or SSI are most likely to also receive housing assistance and TANF benefits.
In sum, families receiving between one and three benefits generally access food assistance and
public health insurance, with limited use of other public benefits. Only when families receive four or more
benefits do they branch out to other benefits in significant numbers.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
6
Table 2. Additional Benefits Received by Benefit Recipient Group
Additional benefits received (percent)
Housing
Work
supports
SSI
Health
Food
Average
number of
benefits
TANF
—
17
41
20
24
99
99
5.0
Energy
21
—
38
16
18
92
94
4.6
Housing
21
16
—
19
15
89
93
4.3
Work supports
20
13
37
—
7
89
89
4.3
SSI
20
12
24
6
—
96
89
4.2
Health
11
9
20
10
13
—
84
3.0
Food
10
8
18
9
11
74
—
2.9
Benefit
received
TANF Energy
Source: Authors’ tabulations of the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation.
Notes: Sample includes low-income, working-aged families with children. Food assistance includes three possible benefits: SNAP,
WIC, and free or reduced price school meals. Mean number of benefits is out of nine possible benefits: the three food benefits
mentioned plus the others listed in the columns. Health: public health insurance. Work supports: child care subsidies,
transportation assistance. All results are calculated using the SIPP family weight.
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES RECEIVING DIFFERENT
BENEFIT PACKAGES?
To understand in more detail the specific packages of benefits different families receive, we conducted a
cluster analysis. The cluster analysis identifies six distinct groups (or clusters) of low-income families with
children, differentiated by the combinations of benefits they receive.10 The clusters range from families
that receive no benefits (cluster 1) to families that receive an average of four benefits in a month (clusters
5 and 6, see Summary of Six Benefit Clusters box). Although there are differences within each cluster, the
six cluster groups can generally be
described as: (1) no benefits, (2) school
Summary of Six Benefit Clusters
meals only, (3) predominantly school
Cluster 1: Families do not receive any of the nine benefits.
meals and public health insurance, (4)
Cluster 2: All families receive free or reduced price school meals;
predominantly WIC and public health
relatively few (15 percent) receive any other benefit.
insurance, (5) predominantly school
Cluster 3: All families receive public health insurance and most
meals, WIC, and public health insurance,
receive SNAP or free or reduced price school meals (67
and (6) a mix of benefits, with school
percent); few (17 percent) receive another type of benefit.
meals, WIC, public health insurance, and
housing assistance received by a majority
Cluster 4: All families receive WIC, most families receive public
of families.
health insurance (82 percent), and a substantial fraction receives
SNAP (40 percent). No families receive free or reduced price
school meals and a minority of families receives other benefits (6
percent to 15 percent).
Cluster 5: All families receive WIC and free or reduced price
school meals, most receive public health insurance (85 percent),
and over half (52 percent) receive SNAP. Between 10 percent
and 19 percent of families receive other benefits.
Cluster 6: Over 75 percent of families receive public health
insurance, SNAP, and free or reduced-price school meals.
Housing assistance is received by over half (55 percent) of
families and other benefits are received by 22 percent to 29
percent of families (with the exception of WIC, received by
virtually no families).
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
Cluster 3, families receiving a package
of public health insurance and school
meals, is the most common, representing
over one-quarter of all families (table 3).
Cluster 1, those receiving no benefits is the
next biggest with over one-fifth of all
families. Clusters 2, 4, 5, and 6 are similar
in size, each representing about 10–12
percent of all families.
On average, families in the later
cluster groups receive more benefits, have
lower incomes, and are more likely to
7
experience economic hardship (table 4, top panel). Families in cluster 1 receive no benefits, while those in
cluster 2 receive an average of 1.2 benefits. Families in the later clusters (clusters 3–6) receive multiple
benefits at a time, on average. Families in clusters 3 and 4 receive an average of 2.0 and 2.7 benefits,
respectively, while those in clusters 5 and 6 receive an average of four benefits.11
Benefit receipt is related to income, although not perfectly. The average income of families in clusters
1 and 2—families that receive no benefits and an average of one benefit, respectively—is nearly identical,
with average family income roughly 20 percent higher than the federal poverty level (120 percent). The
income of families in clusters 2 and 3 are near the poverty line (106 percent and 99 percent, respectively),
while those in cluster 6 have average family income that falls well short of the poverty line (76 percent).
Employment and earnings follow a similar pattern with higher employment rates and earnings for
families that receive fewer benefits on average. Along with lower employment, earnings, and income,
families in cluster 6 are more likely to experience economic hardship. Half of families in cluster 6 report
being unable to cover basic expenses in the last 12 months, compared with roughly 35 percent of families
in clusters 2, 3, and 4 (receiving one to three benefits on average).
Table 3. Benefits Received by Cluster Group
Cluster 1
No
benefits
Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Cluster 6
School
School meals WIC and WIC, school
Mixed
meals
and health
health
meals, health
benefits
All
families
Benefits received
School meals
0%
100%
62%
SNAP
0%
6%
22%
40%
WIC
0%
0%
0%
100%
Public health insurance
0%
0%
100%
82%
Housing assistance
0%
5%
5%
Energy assistance
0%
2%
2%
SSI
0%
1%
TANF
0%
0%
Work supports
0%
2%
Number of benefits
Number of family months
0%
100%
75%
52%
52%
89%
30%
100%
0.4%
22%
85%
89%
60%
15%
19%
55%
13%
6%
10%
22%
6%
7%
6%
11%
29%
8%
1%
8%
13%
29%
7%
3%
11%
13%
22%
7%
0
1.2
2.0
2.7
4.0
4.1
2.0
43,074
24,543
55,762
20,798
21,486
26,841
192,504
Source: Authors’ tabulations of the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Sample includes low-income, working-aged
families with children.
Note: All results are calculated using the SIPP family weight.
Another clear distinction across these groups is age of the children in the family (table 4, bottom
panel). Families in the “school meals” group (cluster 2) must have school-aged children and, on average,
have the oldest children of the six cluster groups. Conversely, families in the “WIC and health” group
(cluster 4) have pre-school aged children (under age 5) or the mother is pregnant; this group has the
youngest children of the six groups. On average, families have two children, although families in the group
that receives both WIC and free or reduced price school meals (cluster 5) are larger with an average of
three children.
Family structure, educational attainment, and race and ethnicity also differ across the clusters.
Among families that receive no benefits (cluster 1), a minority are single-parent families (25 percent), with
the majority being married-couple families (67 percent). Conversely, three-quarters of the most
disadvantaged families (cluster 6) are single-parent families. Those families in the intervening clusters
(clusters 2–5) are more similar to cluster one—a minority being single-parent families (between 33
percent and 41 percent).
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
8
Families that receive no benefits (cluster 1) are the most likely to have a college degree (28
percent) and are the least likely have no high school degree (7 percent).12 The other cluster groups have
substantially lower levels of educational achievement, with 17 percent to 26 percent of families having no
high school degree. Finally, families with no benefits are more likely to be non-Hispanic white as
compared with families in the other groups.
Table 4. Economic and Demographic Characteristics of Families by Cluster Group
Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Cluster 6
No
School
School meals WIC and WIC, school
Mixed
benefits
meals
and health
health
meals, health benefits
Number of benefits
Economic characteristics
Income relative to federal
poverty level
Employed
Earnings
Economic hardship
Unable to meet basic expenses
Experience multiple hardshipsa
Children's age
Age of youngest
Age of oldest
Number of children
Family structure
Single adultb
Married couple
Cohabiting couple
Education
Less than high school
High school diploma
Some college or associates degree
College degree
Race and ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic
Black, non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Other
Age
Number of family months
0
All
families
1.2
2.0
2.7
4.0
4.1
2.0
122%
90%
$1,948
121%
89%
$1,945
106%
81%
$1,486
99%
78%
$1,385
92%
77%
$1,533
76%
50%
$630
105%
79%
$1,523
22%
25%
35%
40%
35%
40%
33%
38%
39%
43%
51%
57%
34%
39%
7.3
10.2
1.9
8.4
12.4
2.2
7.1
10.6
2.0
1.3
3.8
1.8
2.1
10.1
3.1
7.5
11.0
2.1
6.2
10.0
2.1
24.6%
67.4%
8.0%
37.4%
55.5%
7.2%
40.9%
46.0%
13.1%
33.2%
49.5%
17.3%
35.8%
54.9%
9.3%
76.6%
16.3%
7.2%
40.4%
49.2%
10.4%
7%
23%
42%
28%
18%
33%
41%
8%
17%
33%
40%
9%
19%
38%
36%
7%
26%
36%
33%
5%
20%
36%
41%
3%
17%
32%
39%
12%
68%
11%
15%
7%
38.0
43,074
34%
19%
42%
6%
38.1
24,543
44%
20%
28%
8%
36.8
55,762
40%
19%
34%
7%
29.2
20,798
24%
23%
48%
5%
33.0
21,486
36%
39%
18%
7%
36.0
26,841
44%
21%
28%
7%
35.9
192,504
Source: Authors’ tabulations of the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Sample includes low-income, working-aged
families with children.
Notes: The family characteristics take account of both the family head and spouse. For example, education is the highest level attained by the
family head and spouse. Age is age of the family head, or the spouse if the head is not 18–55 years old. When race or ethnicity of the head and
spouse differ, family race is considered to be black if either one is black, Hispanic if neither one is black and one is Hispanic, or “other” if
neither one is black or Hispanic and one is “other race.” All results are calculated using the SIPP family weight.
a
There are ten indicators of material hardship: food (1) insufficiency and (2) insecurity; inability to (3) cover basic expenses; (4) pay rent or
mortgage, or (5) pay utilities; not seeing a (6) doctor or (7) dentist when needed; termination of (8) phone service or (9) utilities; and (10)
eviction from home. Food insufficiency and insecurity are measured over a four-month period and the others over a 12-month period prior to
the fifth SIPP interview.
b
Across the sample, 90 percent of the single parent families are headed by females. The percentage is highest in clusters 4, 5, and 6, and
lowest in clusters 1 and 3.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
9
Taken together, this analysis shows that low-income families with children receive a diverse
package of benefits, although there are some factors that distinguish different types of packages. Families
that receive the most benefits tend to have lower levels of employment, lower incomes relative to the
federal poverty level, higher levels of economic hardship, lower levels of education, and a lower likelihood
of being married.
CONCLUSION
This brief describes the type, number, and combinations of public benefits that low-income families with
children receive, as well as the characteristics of these families. By considering a wide spectrum of
benefits—nine in all—we find higher rates of multiple benefit receipt than prior studies.13 We find that a
majority of low-income families with children—56 percent—receive multiple benefits: 20 percent receive
two benefits and 36 percent receive three or more benefits. Still, over one-fifth of low-income families and
one-sixth of poor families receive no benefits even though they may be eligible.
Many low-income families with children receive food support (SNAP, WIC, and/or school meals) and
health benefits (Medicaid, CHIP, and/or other state programs), and the majority of families that receive
one to three benefits are limited to these two categories of benefits. Fewer families receive housing
assistance, energy assistance, TANF, SSI, child care subsidies, or transportation assistance. These benefits
are rarely received on their own, but mostly as part of a package with four to five benefits. Higher levels of
benefit receipt are associated with lower income, earnings, and employment, and greater material
hardship, but the relationships are not exact. The number and age of children are key determinants of the
type and often the number of benefits received. Family structure, too, is important as single-parent
families receive more benefits on average.
This study does not account for certain factors that may influence a family’s package of benefits, such
as ability to work, knowledge of benefit programs, and the presence of other members in the household
(outside the family unit). Future analyses may wish to address these and other characteristics, and could
consider an even more comprehensive group of benefits that includes unemployment compensation and
the Earned Income Tax Credit, for example.
Overall, our findings suggest that low-income families with children are successful in obtaining a
safety net of food and health benefits—benefits such as school meals and public health insurance, to which
parents and children are entitled. Less frequently do they receive assistance with shelter (housing or
energy), cash (TANF or SSI), or work supports (childcare or transportation assistance). In fact, only one of
the six groups of low-income families with children (cluster 6) was found to receive these benefits at even
a modest rate (between 22 percent and 55 percent). In three of the groups (clusters 3–5), receipt of these
benefits was below 20 percent of families, even though the average incomes of these groups are near the
federal poverty level (between 92 percent and 106 percent of the federal poverty level). This suggests that
low-income families with children are not receiving benefits for which they are eligible. Coordination of
program eligibility is likely one factor in this; the availability of resources for non-entitlement programs
may also play a role. Many of these families, having young children, could better cope with hardship if
they received additional benefits. Although there are concerns those additional programs benefits could
increase dependency and reduce families' incentives to work, additional supports, particularly work
supports, can be a stabilizing force, putting families in a better position to gain employment and move up
the economic ladder.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
10
NOTES
1.
Low-income is defined as having cash income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
2. Benefit receipt tends to be underreported in the SIPP, though less so than in some other household
surveys, such as the Current Population Survey (Wheaton 2007). Whether this leads to
underestimates or overestimates of single or multiple benefit receipt depends on how underreporting
relates to the number of benefits received. Seam bias—the tendency for changes in estimates to be
greater between two successive waves of a survey than between estimates measured within a single
interview—is found in the 2004 SIPP (Moore 2008) and leads to both under- and over-reporting of
benefits, depending on when receipt began and ended. It is unlikely to bias our findings in a
meaningful way.
3. Some respondents do not answer all of the questions. In these cases, the Census Bureau uses
statistical hot-deck imputation for the item nonresponse; we include these values in our analysis.
4. In 2012, the poverty threshold for a single parent with two children was $18,498. Thus, this family
was below 200 percent of the federal poverty level if it had income below $36,996.
5.
Some families appear in the sample for only a few months, while others appear for all 48 months of
the panel. Over time, families may shift in their composition or split into two families.
6. We include only program benefits that are means-tested; that is, eligibility is based on a family’s
income. This excludes such benefits as unemployment compensation, which are important for
stabilizing families after job loss but are based on one’s work history (not current income). We do not
include the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), another key support for low-income working families,
because it is not a program that people apply for, but rather, a tax credit that people receive as a result
of the tax filing process.
7.
Medicaid provides coverage to children as well as some parents and other adults; CHIP covers
children not eligible for Medicaid, and low-income pregnant women.
8. Ninety-two percent of TANF families receive four or more benefits (not shown).
9. Families that receive housing assistance may have their utilities partially covered if utilities are
included in public housing rent.
10. The cluster analysis considers all nine benefit types in creating the six clusters.
11. See appendix table A-1 for more information on the number of benefits received by families in each of
the six clusters.
12. Family educational attainment is measured as the greater level of attainment between the head of the
household and the spouse, if present.
13. This analysis excludes benefits that are not means-tested, such as unemployment compensation and
the Earned Income Tax Credit, which may be integral supports for some families. Higher rates of
multiple benefit receipt would be found if we also considered these benefits.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
11
REFERENCES
Acs, Gregory, and Pamela J. Loprest. 2005. Who Are Low-Income Working Families? Washington DC:
The Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org/publications/311242.html.
Cancian, Maria, Eunhee Han, and Jennifer L. Noyes. 2011. “From Multiple Program Participation to
Disconnection in Wisconsin.” Focus 28 (2): 9–15. Madison, WI: Institute for Research on Poverty,
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dahl, Molly W., and John Karl Scholz. 2011. “The National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast
Program: Evidence on Participation and Noncompliance.” Madison, WI: Institute for Research on
Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison. http://www.econ.wisc.edu/~scholz/Research/Lunch.pdf
Gothro, Andrew and Carole Trippe. 2010. “Multiple Benefit Receipt Among Individuals Receiving Food
Assistance and Other Government Assistance.” Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research.
Kassabian, David, Anne Whitesell, and Erika Huber. 2012. The Welfare Rules Databook: State TANF
Policies as of July 2011. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
http://www.urban.org/publications/412641.html.
Moore, Jeffrey C. 2008. “Seam Bias in the 2004 SIPP Panel: Much Improved, but Much Bias Still
Remains.” Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
Nichols, Austin, and Sheila R. Zedlewski. 2011. “Is the Safety Net Catching Unemployed Families?”
Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, Brief 21. http://www.urban.org/publications/412397.html.
Rosenbaum, Dottie and Stacy Dean. 2011. “Improving the Delivery of Key Work Supports: Policy &
Practice Opportunities at a Critical Moment.” Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities.
Tan, Pang-Ning, Steinbach, Michale, and Vipin Kumar. 2005. “Cluster Analysis: Basic Concepts and
Algorithms.” in Introduction to Data Mining, 487–568. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Waters-Boots, Shelley. 2010. “Improving Access to Public Benefits: Helping Eligible Individuals and
Families Get the Income Supports They Need.” Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute, and Annie
E. Casey Foundation.
Wheaton, Laura. 2007. Underreporting of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the CPS and SIPP.
Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Social Statistics Section: 3622–29. Alexandria,
VA: American Statistical Association.
Zedlewski, Sheila R., Gina Adams, Lisa Dubay, and Genevieve M. Kenney 2006. Is There a System
Supporting Low-Income Working Families? Washington DC: The Urban Institute.
http://www.urban.org/publications/311282.html.
Zedlewski, Sheila. 2012. “TANF and the Broader Safety Net.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
http://www.urban.org/publications/412569.html
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
12
APPENDIX A
Table A-1. Number of Benefits Received, by Cluster Group
Cluster 1
No
benefits
None
Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4
School
School meals WIC and
meals
and health
health
Cluster 5 Cluster 6
All
WIC, school
Mixed
families
meals, health
benefits
100%
0%
0%
0%
One
0%
85%
27%
Two
0%
14%
44%
Three
0%
1%
28%
23%
30%
12%
16%
Four
0%
0%
1%
14%
25%
46%
11%
Five
0%
0%
0%
8%
18%
24%
6%
Six or more
0%
0%
0%
2%
16%
10%
3%
Mean number
0
1.2
2.0
2.7
4.0
4.1
2.0
43,074
24,543
55,762
20,798
21,486
26,841
192,504
Number of family months
0%
0%
22%
15%
0%
7%
21%
38%
11%
1%
20%
Source: Authors’ tabulations of the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Sample includes low-income, working-aged
families with children.
Notes: All results are calculated using the SIPP family weight.
Copyright © February 2014. The Urban Institute. This research was made possible through support from the Ford Foundation
(Grant #1105-1196). The report benefited from the comments, experience, and advice of Gregory Acs and Douglas Wissoker, and the
research assistance of Amelia Hawkins and Cheryl Cooper. All results, interpretations, and conclusions expressed are those of the
authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the foundation or any of their affiliated companies, or of the Urban
Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
Characteristics of Families Receiving Multiple Public Benefits
13